Yesterday (another beautiful day) I birded a bit more with Andrea at Westchester Lagoon and along the coastal trail. Birds were extremely scarce. Of course there were a few Mallards, plus Black-billed Magpies, Common Ravens and a Common Merganser fly-by. Also thanks to Andrea for a very nice cup with its basket in which I can make tea.
On the way home I stopped by Cuddy Pond where I expected to find Mallards and of course found way over 100 of them in the small area of open water, plus a couple of magpies.
When I got home I shoveled the about 3 inches of snow from the driveway before going in the house and as I shoveled, small flocks of Mallards kept flying low over my head toward the back of our house. When I came through the house and looked into the backyard, there were 51 (!) Mallards spread across the yard, trying to find feed under the snow, and probably waiting for my return. Some of them are shown below.
A few Mallard pictures from the day before:
Later I watched the Pine Grosbeaks, Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches, and then photographed a Dark-eyed Junco hopping in the snow.
One of the views from our house yesterday evening is shown below:
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